Interpreting pathologies in extant and extinct archosaurs using micro-CT.
Interpreting pathologies in extant and extinct archosaurs using micro-CT.
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作者：
Anné J;Garwood RJ;Lowe T;Withers PJ;Manning PL
古病理学提供了独特的见解灭绝生物体的愈合策略，允许有关骨生理学的问题得到更深入的回答。不幸的是，由于传统研究方法的破坏性，大多数古病理学研究仅限于外部形态学解释。这限制了可靠诊断和解释的可能性。X射线显微断层扫描（micro-CT，XMT）提供了一种非破坏性的方法，可以分析现存和灭绝个体的病理内部三维结构，其分辨率比医学扫描仪更高。在这项研究中，我们提出了外部和内部的病理描述，在现存和灭绝的祖龙使用XMT。这项工作表明，X射线显微断层扫描促进外部/内部诊断的组合是至关重要的，当区分病理条件。此外，我们表明，比较物种的使用，通过直接分析和文献，提供了关键的信息诊断脊椎动物群体之间的典型病理条件和生理过程。显微CT成像，结合现存物种的比较观察，提供了更详细和可靠的古病理解释。Micro-CT是一种越来越容易使用的工具，它将为未来正确解释脊椎动物病理提供关键见解。
Palaeopathology offers unique insight to the healing strategies of extinct organisms, permitting questions concerning bone physiology to be answered in greater depth. Unfortunately, most palaeopathological studies are confined to external morphological interpretations due to the destructive nature of traditional methods of study. This limits the degree of reliable diagnosis and interpretation possible. X-ray MicroTomography (micro-CT, XMT) provides a non-destructive means of analysing the internal three-dimensional structure of pathologies in both extant and extinct individuals, at higher resolutions than possible with medical scanners. In this study, we present external and internal descriptions of pathologies in extant and extinct archosaurs using XMT. This work demonstrates that the combination of external/internal diagnosis that X-ray microtomography facilitates is crucial when differentiating between pathological conditions. Furthermore, we show that the use of comparative species, both through direct analysis and from the literature, provides key information for diagnosing between vertebrate groups in the typical pathological conditions and physiological processes. Micro-CT imaging, combined with comparative observations of extant species, provides more detailed and reliable interpretation of palaeopathologies. Micro-CT is an increasingly accessible tool, which will provide key insights for correctly interpreting vertebrate pathologies in the future.